Hangar du premier film, Historic film factory in Lyon 8th district, France
Hangar du premier film is a rectangular industrial building with a corrugated metal roof and four half-trusses located on Rue du Premier-Film, standing as the last remains of the Lumière factories. Today it serves as the entrance to a screening room at Institut Lumière and hosts regular film showings and exhibitions about early cinema.
The Lumière brothers purchased this former hat factory in 1881 and transformed it into a photographic plate manufacturing facility with capacity for 300 workers. The location later became the birthplace of cinema when the first public film screening took place here in 1895.
This building appears in 'Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory', the first motion picture shown to an audience in 1895. The location connects directly to how cinema began and shows the daily reality of an early industrial workplace.
The site is easily reached on foot from the city center and the area offers clear landmarks for navigation. The grounds are typically accessible when Institut Lumière is open, but it is wise to check opening times before visiting.
The original roof structure visible in the first-ever filmed motion picture remains intact today. This makes the building a physical link between the modern world and the exact moment cinema was born.
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